We continue our series of farmer stories with André Hornberg. He is a third generation farmer from Germany and his passion is – dairy farming. He works at the farm with his father and he is a partner of eFarmer. Below, is a short interview with André and his experience with precision farming technologies, eFarmer Navi in particular.

How did you get into farming?

André: My family owns and operates our farm since generations, as I love to work with animals and on the fields, I decided to continue that tradition.

What do you grow and how much acreage do you farm?

André: We grow grassland, corn, barley and triticale on a total area of 95ha. Most of the yield is used to feed our dairy cows.

What are your plans for the future – do you want to expand your farm operations?

André: We recently build a new barn for cows and are now going to optimize cow health and milk yield. Next step will be a new barn for the young calves. We are looking at the tendencies on the milk market and do not plan any further expansion.

When you decided to use precision farming technologies at your farm, what was the reason/trigger?

André: Last year I wasn’t satisfied with my paper style of field documentation and searched for a mobile solution for that. The fertilizing of grassland has always been my unloved work due to the bad accuracy of driving without tramlines and Field Guidance system. So I was searching for an affordable solution which is economical even for smaller farms.

How do you use precision farming technologies (eFarmer Navi) in your daily work?

André: To fertilize grassland with mineral and organic fertilizer. On operations like harrowing grassland or disking to reduce time, for turning on the headlands by driving beets. It is also a great tool to document the work which is done on each field and with each machine.

André: Fertilising grassland is now much more precise and goes faster. It can be even executed by less skilled workers. It is even possible to use cheaper liquid fertilizer with a sprayer. It is also possible to work in bad weather conditions with poor visibility, like in the night or when it’s foggy.

Do you plan to invest in precision farming equipment in the near future?

André: Working with the eFarmer Navi – is already the highest level of precision farming for our farm. I’d really love to combine it with a field documentation system to control the materials input and to manage workers, contractors and tasks on the fields.